HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

Well, my 17 days of bliss (see Sep 13 post) are over. Mike and I are now BOTH 50! This, apparently, is what 50 looks like:I can't complain, it really doesn't feel any different than being 49. We had a very quiet, very nice day. I enjoyed it. We just kind if messed around all day, and I spent some quality time with my sewing machine. We went to one of my favorite restaurants, Red Robin, for dinner with Lisa, Charles and the kids -- then came home to a cake baked and decorated by Mike and Faith. It was delicious. I blew out the obligatory candles, the kids both helped! Then, we opened a few gifts. Lisa and Charles got me a new hand mixer, and Mike got me the remote control of my dreams. YAHOO! Our current TV/DVD player/TIVO/CD player set up is quite complicated, requiring a minimum of 2 remotes and a sequence of button pushing events to watch TV and play DVD's. I usually end up with a blank blue screen and have to call someone to rescue me. With this new fabulous, wonderful, remote; I can push "watch a DVD", or "watch TV", and have all the button sequencing done for me. I am SO happy! David and Stacy were not able to join us, as Stacy is about to POP. She is going to give me the BEST birthday present ever next Friday at 12:30 p.m. Our new grandson will be born at Cedars Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles. I will post pictures as soon as we get home from visiting!

I will close with this thought: A year ago, I sat with my best friend Marion as she celebrated her 49th birthday. We had been friends for 29 years, and joked a lot over the years about turning 50 together. We both dreaded it, teased about joining the "Red Hat Society", and growing old. This year was different though --the week before, she had been diagnosed with terminal liver cancer. The prognosis was not good, and she had decided to forgo chemotherapy. She gave me a hug and said, "Jan, remember when we used to dread turning 50? Now I pray that I will. We need to thank God for each and every day He gives us, and thank Him for every passing year. It's a gift, not something to dread." So now, instead of complaining, I will say THANK YOU GOD, FOR ALLOWING ME TO CELEBRATE MY 50th BIRTHDAY! Here is a picture of Marion and me, about a month before her diagnosis. She went home to Jesus on December 28, 2006.